On March 11, 1944, a B-24 bomber nicknamed “Heaven Can Wait” was struck by Japanese anti-aircraft fire during a mission over Wewak, New Guinea.

The plane plunged into the Pacific Ocean and was lost.

Among the soldiers on board was a 26-year-old from Wappingers Falls named Eugene J. Darrigan.

Days later, Darrigan’s family was informed that the staff sergeant was killed, becoming the first soldier from Wappingers Falls reported as killed in action during World War II, according to Journal archives.

Though a memorial service was held for him at St. Mary’s church on March 21, 1944, Darrigan and the rest of the wreck could not be located.

Three-quarters of a century later, Darrigan, his fellow soldiers and Heaven Can Wait were found at the bottom of a bay off the coast of Papua, New Guinea.

The discovery, which was made possible through the efforts of one of the soldiers’ families, was announced Monday by Project Recover, a team of marine scientists, historians, archaeologists, divers and others who seek out military crash sites connected to cases involving those listed as Missing in Action.

This circa 1943 Army Air Forces photo from the Kelly Family Research Project shows Staff Sgt. Eugene Darrigan, standing, second from right, and other members of the crew of the B-24 bomber that was shot down in Hansa Bay in what is now Papua New Guinea during World War II. One of the 11 crew members is not in the photo.(Photo: AP)

Darrigan, who operated the radio on the B-24, enlisted in the Army on Nov. 21, 1942. He had spent four months in the South Pacific before he was killed. He was survived by his wife, Florence Darrigan, and a seven-month-old son, Thomas.

He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal.

Before serving, Darrigan was a member of the W.T. Garner Engine Company in Wappingers Falls. In 1946, he was honored with a plaque outside the firehouse, remembering his service, according to Journal archives.

This October photo from a remote-controlled underwater camera provided by Project Recover shows the nose wheel of a B-24 bomber that crashed in Hansa Bay in what is now Papua New Guinea during World War II.(Photo: AP)

Wappingers Falls Mayor Matt Alexander said he’s been attempting to find living family members of Darrigan since he learned about the discovery Tuesday.

He passed along information to members of the village board during a committee meeting on Wednesday, hoping to find a link to Darrigan and the historic time in the village’s history.

“The Village of Wappingers Falls,” he said, “had a very high percentage of young men sent off to war.”

The wreckage was first discovered last October. Those efforts, though, dated back to Memorial Day 2013. That’s when the family of Tom Kelly, a 2nd lieutenant on Heaven Can Wait, resolved to learn anything they could about their fallen family member. After four years of work, the family turned over what they learned to Project Recover.

The organization said its search was aided greatly by what the family provided, including eyewitness narratives, military reports, flight documents and even diary entries from crew members on planes flying in formation with Kelly’s when it was hit.

This also marked the first time that an MIA family had provided his group such support, said Eric Terrill, Project Recover’s co-founder and leader of the search.

“The results from our efforts in Hansa Bay have stirred a mix of lasting emotions within our team and drives home the need to recognize the sacrifices that service members and their families make in protecting our freedoms,” said Terrill, who works at San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

This circa 1943 U.S. Army Air Force photo from the Kelly Family Research Project shows the "Heaven Can Wait" B-24 bomber, location unknown.(Photo: AP)

The findings are being turned over to the Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which seeks to recover remains of MIAs.

Scott Althaus of Urbana, Illinois, first cousin of Kelly, said if his cousin’s body is retrieved the family hopes he might someday be buried in his hometown of Livermore, California.

“This discovery of where the wreck is, of seeing pictures and videos of the wreck on the floor of Hansa Bay. My goodness, it brings closure in a way we didn’t expect,” Althaus said.